Polarization through education is changing American politics

DDEPENDING ON Where Right where you find yourself, Western Pennsylvania can feel Appalachian, Midwestern, thriving or downtrodden. Anywhere, this part of the state feels like the center of the American political universe. Since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris has visited Western Pennsylvania six times — more times than Philadelphia, on the other side of the state. She marks her seventh with an Oct. 14 trip to the small town of Erie, where Donald Trump also recently held a rally. Democratic luminaries regularly fly through Pittsburgh. It is the place where Ms. Harris chose to reveal the details of her economic agenda, and it is the place where Barack Obama visited on October 10 to offer her encouragement and mild chastisement. “Don’t sit back and hope for the best,” he warned. “Get off your couch and vote.”